Fireman&#39;s hood.



F. W. VINTON.

FIREMANS HOOD.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 12, 1907.

Patented July 4, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FBEDERICK W. TON, OF WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY.

FIREMANS HOOD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. V IN- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Weehawken, in the county of Hudson and more particularly to -a' type thereof I adapted to supply air to the wearer under conditions where the air is polluted.

The main object of the invention is to provide a device: of this character which may be charged with air under atmospheric pressure and without the use of any charg ing device, while affording the stora e of a suflicient volume of air to sustain li e for a limited period. K

A further object is to provide a firemans hood which may be folded in a package of sufficiently small bulk to be carried in the pocket or blouse, so as to be readily accessible in case of an emergency.

A still further object is to provide a light hood of this character, which may be readily put on, and when put on, will have the functions of protecting the head of the wearer from smoke, deadly fumes, and flames and at the same time permit the use of the ordinary helmet, or other protecting headgear.

. A still further object is to provide a firemans hood the constructionof which will be simple and the nethod of manufacturing such as to ke it inexpensive to produce.

A still fur er object of the invention is to provide a firemans hood which when adjusted to the wearer, will form a reservoir containing a fresh air supply and which will by the ordinary movements of the person cause a substantially continuous agita tion of the air contained within the reservoir so as to cause the pollution of the air therein to'begradual, while causing the fresh air to be drawn into the lungs with each breath. And a still further object is to provide a firemans hood which will in itself when applied, contain and retain air under atmospheric pressure in such volume as to make the device suitable as an emergency appliance to permit the wearer to enter places containing dense volumes of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 12, 1907. Serial No.

Patented July g, 1911 406,205.

smoke, or deadlyfumes, in case of an emergency and for a limited period of time only. The invention consists in such novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a device embodying my invention, illustrated as being applied to a person; Fig. 2 is a cross section of the device, as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view of the device, with the .air expelled therefrom, the same being on a smaller scale than Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 4 is a view of an envelop containing the device when vnot in use.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

. In firefighting, particularly in ware houses and commercial establishments, it is found that the presence of chemical tanks, ammonia tanks in refrigerating apparatus and fumes from merchandise, makes the fighting of the fire extremely dangerous, because of the inability of the firemen to reach the source of these dangers for a suflicient period to protect same, or cut oif the escaping fluids to prevent a further generation. of gases. It is of very fre uent occurrence, that firemen in their e orts to do this, are overcome by the gases, and are compelled themselves to be rescued under condition-s which make it extremely dangerous to the rescuers. Reference is had to this condition, because it is in' this connection that the device made the subject matter of this application has its greatest utility..

I am aware that heretofore various types of head gear have been devised for the urpose of permittin the wearer to enter 11111168 and burning bui dings without regard to the presence of fire damp, dense smoke, or noxlous gases, but the character of such devices has been such as not to make them whichair is drawn to sustain life. Some devices of this type are included in the outfits of various fire departments, but by reason of their bulk, the length of time re quired to adjust same to the wearer, and the inconvenience attendant upon wearing same, they are eldom used by the firemen. In addition o this, they are of a character to require an apparatus occupying suflieient space to require its being carried on the fire apparatus which is ordinarily stationed a suflicient distance from the men actually engaged in fighting the fire, to-make their use as an emergency appliance when ,coupled with the time required to apply them, impossible. To adapt a device of this charactor for use under such conditions, it must be of a nature to be carried about the person of each fireman, to be applied practically instantaneously, and to receive its supply of fresh air without the assistance of tanks containing compressed air, either by a direct application thereto. or by a hose connection to be dragged after the wearer. In addition to this, a device of this character must be substantially air tight, must provide for the storage of air under such conditions and in such volumes as to maintain life for a limited period; must provide transparent means to permit the wearer to see his surroundings and must be fire proof to an extent to resist flames, as where it is necessary to pass a door or win- .dow or jump througha volume of flame.

As shown in the accompanying drawings. I provide a firema-nshood which consists of a sack, having its top portion reduced and shaped to form a head piece a, adapted to fit fairly closely to the upper part of the head, above the mouth and nostrils. Thishead piece has eye openings 6 b therein which are closed by pieces of isinglass 0 0 or other transparent material, an air tight joint being made between the material of the sack and the said transparent closures. Below the said head piece a the hood is extended to form an air reservoir (Z of he bottom ofthe hood when the device is in use, of asize to receive and retain enough atmospheric airto sustain life for a sufficient period to permit the wearer to act in an emergency. I make no attempt to provide for the use of the device for any considerable period, and consequently the size of the entire sack may be limited so as to permit it to be folded into a space so compact as to be readily carried in a pocket or blouse. A sack thirty inches long and twenty-four inches wide, when spread flat as shown in Fig. 3, will sustain life for from fifteen to twenty minutes, and may be used without discomfort for from ten to fifteen minutes. The point of the sack adjacent to the bottom of the head piece a is not constricted, thus placing the entire reservoir portion d in constant communication at all points about the head with the head piece, in a manner to cause or permit the air to circulate from all parts of the reservoir to the portion of the head piece adjacent to the mouth and nostrils.

The lower part of the reservoir portion (Z is constricted and has an opening e therein which is adapted to be closed about the neck of the wearer so as to form a practically air tight joint. Preferably this closure means comprises an elastic band f contained in a hem formed in: the material of the hood about said opening, the strength of the band f being such as to exert only a very slight pressure upon the neck, thus avoiding discomfort to the wearer.

1 preferably make the entire hood except the closure pieces a c of cloth of a texture to be substantially air tight as well as water proof, in some cases using rubber coated fabric. This fabric I treat with a fire proofing liquid which may be of any desired character. The use of material as above, gives such flexibility as to permit its being folded into compact form and being stored into an envelop shown at g. The material of which the hood is made, however, is irrimaterial to the invention. In use, the hood is folded into a compactbundle and placed in the envelop or bag g. In this form, it may be carried-1n an ordinary pocket, or slipped in a blouse, and will not interfere in any way with the movements of the fireman or other person carryingsame. Hence the hood may be carried while the man is at work, thus having it always conveniently at hand whenever an emergency may arise. This feature is of considerable importance, as it may be required for use at any moment and on some occasions, when the fireman is in a building or on adjoiningbuildings when the fire'apparatus is not accessible. J V. 1

To charge the hood with air, and place it over the head, it is merely necessary to spread the opening 6 and swing the hood once or twice from side to sidewith the distended opening presented in the-direction of movement of the hood. This action fills the entire hood with fresh air under atmospheric pressureand distends it throughout. When so filled, the band f is stretched and the head passed therethrough said band being permitted to set about the neck so as to prevent the air escaping from the hood. When so positioned, the head piece a is through the transparent closures 00. A helmet or other protecting head gear may be placed on the head over this head piece a if desired. The hem and shirring of the the band f to be stretched as described.

As the band f sits on the neck, and the fitted to the head with the eye openings 6 b so positioned that the wearer may see 7 portion adjacent to the opening 6, permits head piece a is fitted to the head, the lower or reservoir portion of the head, at, falls in folds all about the head, being distended by the air contained therein. The sides of this reservoir portion fall on the shoulders. and the back and front thereof upon the back and chest respectively, thus leaving the hands perfectly free. The position of this reservoir portion d is, therefore, such as to cause the movements of the wearer to result in such a movement thereof as will constantly move the volume of air contained therein. All parts of the reservoir portion cl being in communication with each other, the breathing of the wearer will tend to set up a circulation of air throughout the entire hood, thus preventing the rapid fouling of the air adjacent to the mouth and nostrils.

The position assumed by the portion d when adjusted on the wearer, affords space, for the storage of a large volume of air, be-' sufiicient time to open air passages from rooms containing such gases, and the supply ofair always being contained in a reservoir carried by the wearer, there is no danger of the air supply being cut off except from dangers which are so close to the wearer as to be discoverable. If, however,

a longer time than that afforded by a single charging of the hood, be desired, the wearer may readily remove the hood at a window, recharge it as described, and replace it.

No effort is made, in this appliance, to extend its use beyond that of an emergency hood, and the protection of the wearer from falling articles is" left to the usual head gear.

i g The device, however, presents in a simple form, a firemans hood capable of being made so compact as to be conveniently car ried at all times, and which will carry a sufficient volume of air to meet the ordinary requirements of use. By making it air tight,

not only is the air contained therein prevented from escaping, but noxious gases are prevented from entering the hood, it having been found in actual practice that no trace of sulfur fumes enters the hood. much as it is not necessary that the head piece a should fit snugly to the head, it is not necessary to have the device of an exact size, as with hats or helmets.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction heretofore described and shown in the drawings, such being capable of variation without departing-from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patentis As a new article of manufacture, a firefor the storage of a considerable volume of air under normal atmospheric pressure, the bottom of said lower part having an opening therein adapted to be passed over thehead of the user, the portion of said sack about said bottom opening being gathered or shirred to permit the extension and contraction of said opening, and an elastic band mounted within saidgathered or shirred portion whereby said'opning may Inasin mans hood, consisting of a sack'of flexible so i be extended tocharge the reservoir and a ply. the hood and will be automatlcal y closedabout the neck of the wearer to make the sack substantiallyair tight when applied. I 1

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 11th day of December, 1907, in the presence of two wit-- nesses.

' F. T. WENTWon'r P-V- WENING.

w. vIu' roN. 

